Christ is a Better Sacrifice
Part 1: A Better Tabernacle

Hebrews 9:1-14

Introduction.

  1. The writer of Hebrews has just finished telling us of the better covenant established on better promises in chapter 8.

    1. This is sort of a prologue into the topic of the next chapter, all the way through 10:18.

    2. But it’s such a big topic, I’ve decided to divide it up so that the first part focuses on the tabernacle.

    3. Throughout this book, the writer has been comparing the old covenant with the new, that the new is better while the old is obsolete.

    4. He really focuses on that here, this being the crux of the entire book.

    5. While in Ch. 8 he has proven that the old covenant was even prophesied to vanish away, and a new covenant would replace it, promising the complete forgiveness of sins.

    6. This was something the old covenant could never do.

  2. The biggest holy day in the Israelite calendar that could remove sin was the Day of Atonement.

    1. This was the day in view as the writer of Hebrews is going through this.

    2. Sure there are plenty of other rituals designed to absolve sin, such as the sin and trespass offerings.

    3. But it was the Day of Atonement that was designed to absolve the whole nation of their sins, that of the priests first, then of the people.

    4. After all, the sin and trespass offerings were to be offered when someone was made aware of their sin—what if they were never made aware of it?

    5. The Day of Atonement takes care of all of that every year.

    6. But as we have discussed (8:12), the old covenant had no power to truly remove sins.

    7. In fact, we will soon find out that without Christ, the all of the sacrifices before Christ, every single one of them, would mean nothing.

  3. Preview.

    1. The Old Tabernacle (9:1-10).

    2. The New Tabernacle (9:11-14).

Body.

  1. The Old Tabernacle (9:1-10).

    1. Prologue (9:1).

      1. At this time, the writer takes a moment to remind his readers what the tabernacle looked like.

      2. Surely they were aware of its contents and arrangement, but it’s helpful to look at it so that we might contrast it with the new.

      3. So, we will take the time to remind you of this structure.

      4. As we noted in the last chapter, this was a structure that the Lord “divinely instructed” Moses to build, and he did so “according to the pattern” (8:5).

      5. This structure was designed to be mobile so it could travel with the Israelites in the wilderness, from Sinai to Canaan.

      6. Even in Canaan, it moved around a few times, having spent a good deal of time in Shiloh.

    2. Contents (9:2-4a).

      1. So it’s small with only two rooms: the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place.

      2. Along with it were only a few accoutrements: a lampstand, the table of showbread, the altar of incense, and the ark of the covenant.

      3. The writer describes the Holy Place as “the first part.” This was the outer room that priests often entered into.

      4. On the diagram, you will see three pieces of furniture present: the lampstand, the table of showbread, and the altar of incense.

      5. Interestingly enough, the altar of incense is not mentioned in this passage, but part of it is—the golden censer “behind the second veil” in the “Holiest of All,” the Most Holy Place.

      6. So is this a contradiction? Hardly. Recall that the Day of Atonement is what’s in view here (Lev. 16:12-13).

        Then he [Aaron] shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, with his hands full of sweet incense beaten fine, and bring it inside the veil. And he shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the Testimony, lest he die.”

      7. So you see, on that Day, the golden censer was taken “inside the veil,” that is “behind the second veil” into the Most Holy Place.

      8. This was the only time anyone was permitted into the Most Holy Place, and only the high priest.

      9. And the main piece of furniture in that Most Holy Place was the ark of the covenant.

    3. The Ark (9:4b-5).

      1. This was located within the Most Holy Place, and it was something that had been lost, likely in the Babylonian Captivity.

      2. Three items were located inside the ark: the golden pot of manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant.

      3. The language suggests they could be in proximity and not exactly inside it, as 1 Kings 8:9 informs us only the tablets were inside.

      4. Regardless, all three of these things are now supplanted by Jesus Christ.

      5. Manna is literally bread from heaven, and in John 6, Jesus says something interesting about that (John 6:48-51).

        I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

      6. The tablets of the covenant were given as the direct word of God. And who is described as the Word? (John 1:1, 14).

      7. As for Aaron’s rod, if you recall, it budded miraculously in Numbers 17 to prove the legitimacy of his priesthood.

      8. Of course, the writer of Hebrews just spent a whole chapter (7) basically nullifying that legitimacy, proving that Christ’s priesthood is far better—He is our great High Priest today!

      9. The lid of the ark had carvings of two magnificent angels, the cherubim.

      10. The lid itself was known as the mercy seat, for this is where the Lord “sat,” figuratively speaking, and where the blood of the atoning sacrifice was sprinkled on the Day of Atonement.

    4. The Day of Atonement (9:6-8).

      1. We have already talked about what happens on this day throughout this lesson.

      2. The priests frequently entered into the Holy Place (the first part) to perform their priestly duties.

      3. As we see in places like Lev. 24, some of those duties were daily.

      4. The second part (Most Holy Place) was only entered into once a year on this Day by the high priest, sprinkling blood on the ark for his sins and for the people’s.

      5. These were for sins committed in ignorance, not intentional sins like open rebellion or sins they could have taken care of with sin or trespass offerings earlier.

      6. The former was punishable by death, so what use is forgiveness?

      7. Thankfully we are not under that system now, and our Lord can take any sin away!

      8. It was this system that separated men from the presence of God—with good reason, but it was still inferior to what we now possess!

    5. Perfect conscience (9:9-10).

      1. Along with the separation from God’s presence, the writer here is expressing even more shortcomings of that old covenant.

      2. The gifts and the sacrifices were useless when it came to one’s conscience.

      3. In context, we can understand that to mean that it was powerless to truly forgive sins.

      4. Instead that covenant was only interested in outward things which are obsolete and vanishing away (8:13).

      5. That’s not to say God wasn’t interested in the inward man, but the law certainly had a focus on foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances.

      6. All these shortcomings would be done away with at “the time of reformation.”

      7. A reformation that brought about a new covenant and a new tabernacle.

  2. The New Tabernacle (9:11-14).

    1. Greater tabernacle (9:11-12).

      1. Here the writer repeats some of the same things he has been talking about previously.

      2. Christ is our High Priest today (Ch. 7) – of the good things to come (forgiveness – 8:12; rest – 4:11).

      3. We have a tabernacle not made with hands (8:2).

      4. But there is this focus on the tabernacle, because only in the tabernacle could sacrifices be made to remove sins, particularly on the Day of Atonement.

      5. We have that greater and more perfect tabernacle, something not made by human beings.

      6. That Holy Place for us is the church of Christ, where we Christians all work as priests, spreading the light of God’s Word (lampstand), eating and sharing the bread of life with others (showbread), and spending time in prayer (incense).

      7. The Most Holy Place is located in heaven, where Christ works as High Priest on our behalf, having placed His blood before the presence of our heavenly Father.

      8. In doing so, He has “obtained eternal redemption” for us all—we’ve been redeemed!

      9. Our sin had held us captive, but the Lord paid the price for us with His blood, and so He redeemed us all from our sins.

      10. If we present ourselves as slaves of righteousness rather than of sin, we can take advantage of that amazing sacrifice! (Rom. 6:16-18).

        Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

      11. His truth can make us free from sin! (John 8:32, 34-36).

        And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. … Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

    2. How much more? (9:13-14).

      1. Here we see another great contrast between the sacrifices offered under the old covenant vs. the new.

      2. All the things listed here can do is make one ceremonially clean, particularly when it included the ashes of a heifer.

      3. We talked about the concept of clean and unclean in our Leviticus lessons awhile back.

      4. Recall that ritual uncleanness was extremely easy to catch and to transmit.

      5. You could become unclean by touching a dead body, by getting sick or even touching someone who was sick, by engaging in sexual relations (even legitimate ones), and all manner of other things.

      6. But the writer here concludes that all such rituals to make one ritually clean were ultimately useless, for it did not affect one’s conscience.

      7. The only thing that could truly remove sins is the blood of Christ, far more powerful than anything an animal or some empty ritual could offer.

      8. This was done through “the eternal Spirit,” the Holy Spirit.

      9. He came upon Christ as His baptism, and later we find He is the one who applies the blood of Christ to our souls at baptism (John 3:5; Titus 3:5).

      10. How much greater is His sacrifice than the one of animals, where all the animal sacrifices produces was someone to be ritually clean!

      11. The writer will delve more into that later, but for now, we see that a better tabernacle demands a better sacrifice.

      12. He was without spot of any sort, without blemish, perfect in every way.

      13. Isaiah foretells that had “no form or comeliness” (Isa. 53:2), so His outward appearance was not remarkable.

      14. But His inward self, one of complete obedience to God, without sin, is absolutely astounding (4:15).

      15. He had the ability to truly cleanse our consciences, clearing us of all guilt of sin!

      16. Or dead works, which should be understood to be works that would bring forth death—sin (6:1).

      17. And as stated, freeing us from sin makes us slaves to righteousness, serving the living God.

      18. And that is what we ought to be doing each and every day: serving the living God!

Conclusion.

  1. In this first lesson on Christ being the better sacrifice, we note that the writer begins by talking of the better tabernacle.

    1. Of course he doesn’t exactly start here, but he has been talking of a better priesthood, a better high priest even, and a better covenant.

    2. With all these things being better, don’t you think we’d have a better location for which to place the blood of the sacrifice—and indeed we do!

    3. While what Moses built was merely a copy or a shadow (8:5), the true presence of God is in heaven.

    4. And Christ is there now, sitting at the right hand of God, after having offered His blood upon the altar in heaven.

    5. I don’t pretend to know what that looked like precisely, but I don’t have to know.

    6. As we read some weeks ago, we have a sure and steadfast hope that Christ “enters the Presence behind the veil” (6:19).

    7. And He did this once and for all so our sins could be removed totally and completely—a better sacrifice!

  2. Of course since He has done that for us, should we not also serve the living God?

    1. And what’s the best way to do that?

    2. Keep in mind, of course, that Christ is “the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (5:9).

    3. If we serve Him, we can have our consciences wiped clean with His blood, applied when we believe, repent, and are baptized into Christ!

    4. Next time we will continue our look at His great sacrifice for us, but tonight, won’t you get right with Him and serve Him?